The Crisul Repede is the river that cuts through the Apuseni Mountains in north-western Romania, and it carries the main road and the railway between Cluj and Oradea along its valley. Poieni and Horhis lie on the hills just above this corridor, in the zone where the great bulk of the Apuseni gives way to lower, rolling farmland. Ciucea, down in the valley, is the nearest village of any size, and is known for a small castle that once belonged to Octavian Goga, a Romanian poet who briefly served as prime minister in the 1930s. He is buried there, and the house is now a museum.
The road through the valley is the E60, and it can be hard riding: heavy with trucks, narrow in places and slow behind farm vehicles. Most riders will want to leave it for the roads that climb into the hills, where the traffic vanishes and the villages become small clusters of wooden houses, orchards and meadows. The corners are tighter, the surface variable, and the hay in summer smells wonderful. Sheep and cattle are common on the road, and farmers wave at passing bikes.
The label here includes Brusturi and a reference to ruins, which suggests the Roman and medieval remnants scattered across this part of Transylvania. The Roman province of Dacia's northwestern frontier lay not far from here, and small watchtowers and fortlets were built along the ridges. The area is also steeped in Romanian folk culture, with traditional costumes, carved gates and painted wooden churches in the villages of the Huedin region, famous for their folk art and their embroidered blouses.
Huedin, a town of about nine thousand, is the place to buy fuel and supplies, and it has a cluster of cafes and a Saturday market. Ciucea has a petrol station and a small shop, but the smaller villages are thin on services, so carry cash. Early summer and early autumn are the best times for riding here, and the hills are especially lovely when the mist lifts in the morning.